Improvement in fire-escapes



WILLIAM GARDNER, or BosToN, MAssAoni-Isnrrs.

VLetters Patent No. 113,509, dated April 11, 1871; antedated March 30, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT IN FIRE-ESCAPES.

. The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

the car'and tackle which supports it in such a manner that the whole can be compactly folded together 'when not in use, and readily unfolded, in order to hold the car at the required distancefrm the wall of the building when in use.

.The second part of my invention relates to ther combination of' a reescape with a safe, so that the two shall constitute one article, and so that the safe shallcounterbalance the weight of the parts of the nre-escape which project from the window.

In the drawing- Figure l is a side elevation when opened. Y

Figure 2 is a side elevation when shut, with a portion of' the side removed.

Figure 3 is a plan.

Y A is the car, supported by ropes B B, which pass over sheaves a a in the beams C, through a slot in theslidin g beams D, and over sheaves l) b in the beam D to the winding-drums E E.

The too rapid descent of' the car is prevented by the brake F, which is caused to act upon the shaft which connects the winding-drums, by means of the check-rope G. p

The car is' held in any desired position by means of the ratchet-Wheel H and paw] I, the pawl being operated by means of the rod J.A A rope-ladder, K, is attached at one end to the car, and at the other end to its drum L.

The slidinfr beams D are so connected to thebeams D"that they can slide upon Athem longitudinally, so as tn bring theinfrom the position shown in iig. 2'to the position shown 'in iig. l, and thereby cause their ends to project from the window The beams G are hinged to the ends of these slidh ing beams, and consequently move with them.

The beams D are iirmly secured to the upper part oi' thesafe M, the weight of which serves to connterf balance the weight of the car and of the projecting portions of the apparatus. v

O is an alarm-bell for the purpose of giving an alarm in case of fire to persons 'in other parts of the house.

X is a line to be thrown out to a person below to guide the ear past any obstruction, suchas a balcony, Ste.

Asthe bottom of the carshould be drawn up snug to the beams G the sustaining ropes are attached directly to the bottom of the car; but, in order to make the car 4less liable to tip, these ropes pass through eyes in the pieces c c, which are free to traverse on the uprights d d, and are connected to the top of these uprights by a spring, so that, as the car descends, the piecesc c are brought by the springsl to the top of the uprights, and thus the sustaining ropes act as if they were connected directly to the upper part of the uprights.

rlhe operation of this apparatus is as follows:

VVben not in use the beams O are folded back upon the sliding beams D, which rest directly on the beams D. The sustaining ropes are wound each upon its drum, and the rope-ladder and checlerope liein the space betweenythese sets of beams.

The, bottom of the car rests upon the beams C and form a covering for the whole. The sides are covered in the apparatus shown by pieces c e and secured directly to the beams C, and the piece e" secured to the car; but all these pieces may be secured to the car; and I prefer that construction, as thereby the c ar itself forms a complete cover for the whole apparatus.

When the apparatus is to be used the beams C are 'lnought into the position shown in fig. l by being turned upon their hinges and by sliding out the sliding beams D. These sliding beams are then chocked to prevent the weight upon the car from operating to slide them back. rlhe pawl I is caused to engage with the wheel H and held in its place by means of the rod J, the end of the cross-piece on that rod being insorted in a hole made to receive it, and the -car is then loaded with passengers or freight. VYlhe brake is then held liirmly against the shaft by means of the checkrope,and the pawl released from the wheel H. The descent of the car is then regulated by means of the brake, actuated by the check-rope. Y

When the car .is large this check-rope is wound upon a drum attached to the car itself, land this drum is governed by a brake, so that the weight ot thc car itself can be either wholly or partially brought upon the brake-F.

The beam D', instead of being secured to a sa'e, may be, of course, secured in any other suitable way.

The weight of the safe, in ordinary cases, will be sniicient to sustain the rest of the apparatus; butl the safe may, of course, 4,be secured tothe building, as shown in my' patent of December 17, 1867, or in any other suitable way.

I prefer to attach the ropedadder to the car, but I also supply it with a weight, N, so that it may be used without lowering the oar.

Instead of using the separate drum L for thev ropeladder it may be wound upon a drum upon the main shaft. The hinged beams may lie upon one side of the sliding beams, in which case the slot in the slidL ing beams for the sustaining ropes 'is unnecessary, as those ropes then lie'on one side of the sliding beams.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination of the stationary Ways D', sliding beamsD, and folding beams C, each constructed and operating as described, with the car, sustaining ropes, and Winding mechanism, as above described.

2. The arrangement of the Ways D', beams'D and O, car, ropes, and Winding mechanism with a safe,

-when the ,whole constitutes one article of furniture and is constructed as above described.

3. The uprghts d d, pieces c c and their springs,

in combination with the car and its snstaining ropes, as described.

4. The combination of the car A and pieces e e e and e with the foldingbeams G, sliding beams D, ways D', ropes, and winding mechanism, as and for` the purpose above specified. A

. y WILLIAM GARDNER.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM- SPRAGG, J om: ALLEN. 

